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Be To
The ''going-to'' future is a grammatical construction used in English to refer to various types of future occurrences. It is made using appropriate forms of the expression ''to be going to''.Fleischman, Suzanne, ''The Future in Thought and Language'', Cambridge Univ. Press, 1982. It is an alternative to other ways of referring to the future in English, such as the future construction formed with ''will'' (or ''shall'') – in some contexts the different constructions are interchangeable, while in others they carry somewhat different implications. Constructions analogous to the English ''going-to'' future are found in some other languages, including French, Spanish and some varieties of Arabic. Origin The ''going-to'' future originated in the late 15th century by the extension of the spatial sense of the verb '' go'' to a temporal sense (a common change, the same phenomenon can be seen in the preposition ''before''). The original construction involved physical movement with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that includes phonology, morphology (linguistics), morphology, and syntax, together with phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. There are, broadly speaking, two different ways to study grammar: traditional grammar and #Theoretical frameworks, theoretical grammar. Fluency in a particular language variety involves a speaker internalizing these rules, many or most of which are language acquisition, acquired by observing other speakers, as opposed to intentional study or language teaching, instruction. Much of this internalization occurs during early childhood; learning a language later in life usually involves more direct instruction. The term ''grammar'' can also describe the linguistic behaviour of groups of speakers and writer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Present Progressive
The present continuous, also called the present progressive or present imperfect, is a verb form used in modern English that combines the present tense with the continuous aspect. It is formed by the present tense form of be and the present participle of a verb. The present continuous is generally used to describe something that is taking place at the present moment and can be employed in both the indicative and subjunctive moods. It accounts for approximately 5% of verbs in spoken English. Formation The present continuous is formed by the present tense form of be and the present participle (-ing form) of the verb. For example, you would write the verb ''work'' in the present continuous form by adding the -ing suffix to the verb and placing a present tense form of be (am, are, is) in front of it: * I am working. * You are working. * She is working. * We are working. * They are working. Uses The present continuous is used in several instances. Its most common use is to des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinitive
Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The name is derived from Late Latin [] , a derivative of meaning "unlimited". In traditional descriptions of English language, English, the infinitive is the basic dictionary form of a verb when used non-finitely, with or without the particle to. Thus to go is an infinitive, as is ''go'' in a sentence like "I must go there" (but not in "I go there", where it is a finite verb). The form without ''to'' is called the bare infinitive, and the form with ''to'' is called the full infinitive or to-infinitive. In many other languages the infinitive is a distinct single word, often with a characteristic inflective ending, like (" osing") in Portuguese, (" odie") in Spanish, (" oeat") in French, (" ocarry") in Latin and Ita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copula (linguistics)
In linguistics, a copula (; : copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' in the sentence "It was not being cooperative." The word ''copula'' derives from the Latin noun for a "link" or "tie" that connects two different things. A copula is often a verb or a verb-like word, though this is not universally the case. A verb that is a copula is sometimes called a copulative or copular verb. In English primary education grammar courses, a copula is often called a linking verb. In other languages, copulas show more resemblances to pronouns, as in Classical Chinese and Guarani, or may take the form of suffixes attached to a noun, as in Korean, Beja, and Inuit languages. Most languages have one main copula (in English, the verb "to be"), although some (such as Spanish, Portuguese and Thai) have more than one, while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Conditional
Prototypical conditional sentences in English are those of the form ''"If X, then Y".'' The clause ''X'' is referred to as the ''antecedent'' (or ''protasis''), while the clause ''Y'' is called the ''consequent'' (or ''apodosis''). A conditional is understood as expressing its consequent under the temporary hypothetical assumption of its antecedent. Conditional sentences can take numerous forms. The consequent can precede the "if"-clause and the word "if" itself may be omitted or replaced with a different complementizer. The consequent can be a declarative, an interrogative, or an imperative. Special tense morphology can be used to form a counterfactual conditional. Some linguists have argued that other superficially distinct grammatical structures such as wish reports have the same underlying structure as conditionals. Conditionals are one of the most widely studied phenomena in formal semantics, and have also been discussed widely in philosophy of language, computer scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linguistic Modality
In linguistics and philosophy, modality refers to the ways language can express various relationships to reality or truth. For instance, a modal expression may convey that something is likely, desirable, or permissible. Quintessential modal expressions include modal auxiliaries such as "could", "should", or "must"; modal adverbs such as "possibly" or "necessarily"; and modal adjectives such as "conceivable" or "probable". However, modal components have been identified in the meanings of countless natural language expressions, including counterfactuals, propositional attitudes, evidentials, habituals, and generics. Modality has been intensely studied from a variety of perspectives. Within linguistics, typological studies have traced crosslinguistic variation in the strategies used to mark modality, with a particular focus on its interaction with tense–aspect–mood marking. Theoretical linguists have sought to analyze both the propositional content and discourse effect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uses Of English Verb Forms
Modern standard English has various verb forms, including: * Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went'' * Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone'' * Combinations of such forms with auxiliary verbs, such as ''was going'' and ''would have gone'' They can be used to express tense (time reference), aspect, mood, modality and voice, in various configurations. For details of how inflected forms of verbs are produced in English, see English verbs. For the grammatical structure of clauses, including word order, see English clause syntax. For non-standard or archaic forms, see individual dialect articles and thou. Inflected forms of verbs A typical English verb may have five different inflected forms: *The base form or plain form (''go'', ''write'', ''climb''), which has several uses—as an infinitive, imperative, present subjunctive, and present indicative except in the third-person singular *The ''-s'' form (''goes'', ''writes'', ''climbs''), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simple Present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition to the present time. The simple present is the most commonly used verb form in English, accounting for more than half of verbs in spoken English. It is called "simple" because its basic form consists of a single word (like ''write'' or ''writes''), in contrast with other present tense forms such as the present progressive (''is writing'') and present perfect (''has written''). For nearly all English verbs, the simple present is identical to the base form (dictionary form) of the verb, except when the subject is third-person singular, in which case the ending ''-(e)s'' is added. There are a few verbs with irregular forms, the most notable being the copula ''be'', which has the simple present forms of ''am'', ''is'', and ''are''. Conj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adverb
An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by answering questions such as ''how'', ''in what way'', ''when'', ''where'', ''to what extent''. This is called the adverbial function and may be performed by an individual adverb, by an adverbial phrase, or by an adverbial clause. Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. Modern linguists note that the term ''adverb'' has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.). Functions The English word ''adverb'' derives (through French) from Latin ''adverbium'', from ''ad-'' ('to'), ''verbum'' ('word', 'ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retrospective Aspect
The perfect tense or aspect (abbreviated or ) is a verb form that indicates that an action or circumstance occurred earlier than the time under consideration, often focusing attention on the resulting state rather than on the occurrence itself. An example of a perfect construction is ''I have made dinner.'' Although this gives information about a prior action (the speaker's making of the dinner), the focus is likely to be on the present consequences of that action (the fact that the dinner is now ready). The word ''perfect'' in this sense means "completed" (from Latin ''perfectum'', which is the perfect passive participle of the verb ''perficere'' "to complete"). In traditional Latin and Ancient Greek grammar, the perfect tense is a particular, conjugated-verb form. Modern analyses view the perfect constructions of these languages as combining elements of grammatical tense (such as time reference) and grammatical aspect. The Greek perfect tense is contrasted with the aorist and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Present Perfect
The present perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and Perfect (grammar), perfect aspect that is used to express a past event that has consequence in present. The term is used particularly in the context of English grammar to refer to forms like "I have finished". The forms are ''present'' because they use the present tense of the auxiliary verb ''have'', and ''perfect'' because they use that auxiliary in combination with the past participle of the main verb. (Other perfect constructions also exist, such as the past perfect: "I had eaten.") Analogous forms are found in some other languages, and they may also be described as present perfect; they often have other names such as the German , the French ''passé composé'' and the Italian . They may also have different ranges of usage: in all three of the languages just mentioned, the forms in question serve as a general past tense, at least for completed actions. In English, completed actions in many contexts are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prospective Aspect
In linguistics, the prospective aspect ( abbreviated or ) is a grammatical aspect describing an event that occurs subsequent to a given reference time.Matthews, P. H. (1997) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. One way to view tenses in English and many other languages is as a combination of a reference time (past, present, or future) in which a situation takes place, and the time of a particular event relative to the reference time (before, at, or after). As an example, consider the following sentence: *When I got home yesterday, John called and said he would arrive soon. The verb ''would arrive'' expresses a combination of past reference time (the situation of my getting home, established as being in the past by the introductory clause) and an event (John's arrival) whose time of occurrence is subsequent to the reference time. Technically, this verb is said to be ''past tense, prospective aspect'', with the tense expressing the time of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
